


curtis

by lesbianbey



Series: LGBT Kipling [17]
Category: The Get Down (TV)
Genre: Gen, anyways that mlm/wlw solidarity, but this is my favorite, for reasons that you gotta read below to find out, not much tags to report
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-02-05 20:43:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12801984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianbey/pseuds/lesbianbey
Summary: Yolanda finally confronts Shao.





	curtis

**Author's Note:**

> happy thanksgiving the pilgrims killed the natives and turkey tastes like napkins
> 
> (if you get the reference I’ll love you forever)  
> tumblr @ arcadiasbays

Yolanda gets on the shorter line at the Dollar Tree, with only a couple menstrual products and as much chocolate as she can find in such short notice. No wonder she's been moody. The minute she woke up, she noticed that shark week came with a vengeance and since she's out of tampons, she just heads to the store with some of the cash she begs Adele for.

She puts her stuff on the conveyor belt and doesn't look at the cashier in the eye...until he clears his throat. "Yolanda."

"Shao?" Fuck, maybe she should've went to a different cashier. The last person she wants to see is fucking Shaolin Fantastic at her nearby dollar store. "The fuck you doing here?"

"I work here?"

Yolanda looks at Shao for a minute, noticing the green polo and the nametag that reads "Curtis". "Oh...hold up, your name's Curtis?"

Shao shrugs. "Well, yeah, I don't tell everyone about it. Only Leon, your parents, and Regina know, since your parents are frequents...and well, me and Leon as well as Regina go way back."

Yolanda allows Shao to ring up her stuff and she pays him with whatever she's got. "Keep the change." She doesn't even let him reply to that when she bolts out the front door and heads home, her head swimming in thoughts. She gotta confront him again, and that's a fact.

* * *

 

Yolanda leaves her house two days after because she gets a particularly painful and heavy flow and she was almost bedridden. She didn't even want to get out of bed that day but she seriously couldn't stop thinking about Shao.

She's never formally met Shao until he came over one day, and met both her parents. They immediately took a liking to him, but Yolanda didn't. She sensed something fake about him, but never touched up on it.

However, the drama between Zeke and Mylene happened and it further drove a wedge between her and Shao. She often would take Mylene's side when Mylene complained about how Shao imposed on her date with Zeke or how once again, Zeke would cancel her plans to go on a wild goose chase with Shao. Regina never said anything but Yolanda definitely did not like that. Yeah, she may have had a crush on Mylene but she wanted her to be happy and if that meant being happy with Zeke then that meant Zeke shouldn't think about breaking her heart.

But he did, each time he hung out with Shao when he's supposed to have a dinner date with Mylene. She would end up crying on Yolanda's shoulder about how Zeke and Shao are literally attached to the hip and how Shao steals Zeke away from her, and it makes her bitter as hell.

When she hears those tales of Shaolin Fantastic, they're all tales. There's no truth to it. He isn't a superhero. He isn't a comic book character or whatever Dizzee or Boo would say. He's an eighteen year old high school dropout ex-drug dealer who suddenly wants to be Birdman with Zeke.

However, there's something telling her that maybe there's a reason. Shao has never introduced himself as Curtis, not once in his life and she honestly wonders why. It isn't even a bad name.

Upon hearing from the manager that Shao isn't working, she turns around and goes to his apartment instead. It's not a nice place but it would probably do for Shao's salary, and it's one of the only places that hasn't been touched by the white man. Yet. She controls her mood swing related ange and bangs on the door to his apartment.

Shao opens the door and instead of a sneer, he just sighs. "What do you want, Yolanda?"

"Why you never told anyone about your name?" Yolanda inquires.

Shao should've seen this coming. He reluctantly lets Yolanda inside his apartment, and closes the door behind him. "It never seemed important."

Yolanda doesn't believe him. "Ok, so if I start calling you Curtis, would you have a problem with it?"

"Alright...yeah, I would have a problem with it. It's personal, and as far as i'm concerned, you don't like me at all so you would just call me that outta spite."

"I'm tryna like you, Shao," Yolanda replies. "I really am. But...there's just something fake about you that I can't pinpoint. I'm not sure if it's the fake name or your persona, but i'm not a fan of it."

"I'm not an open book, Yolanda. No one is." Shao runs a hand through his face, sighing exasperatedly. "I can't just be as open about certain things as you want me to be, but I'm not some fake boujee ass nigga as you and Mylene think I am. Yeah, I used to sell drugs and I spend a good deal making tracks and I work at the Dollar Tree down the street to make sure Leon got things to eat and a place to live in, 'cause I look out for him before I look out for myself." Shao inhales, bracing himself for his next sentence. "But i'm also a gay man who has a hard time even admitting that and my former self is an empty shell of trauma and regret and I try my damn best to hide it. I never told anyone about Curtis or my past life just because i'm not sure who's watching or who's listening, and that's just the tip of the iceberg...so sorry I haven't been as authentic to you but before you decide to judge a book by the cover, take a good look at the cover."

There's a deafening silence, and Shao is thankful that Napoleon is a heavy sleeper because he probably would have eavesdropped or something. It turns awkward though because neither of them knows what to say...and Shao isn't sure if it was him coming out or if it was something else he said that's making it silent. "We gotta say something sooner before this gets even more awkward," he says.

"What you want me to say? You got me feeling bad now!" Yolanda exclaims.

"No disrespect, but i'm not a fan of people giving me unnecessary pity," Shao replies.

Yolanda shakes her head. "I'm not giving you pity. I'm just...for a year, I've been hating you and I barely knew you...and it was mostly because of whatever Mylene would say...and now i'm kinda realizing that it's not the case. But I mean...you would impose on her dates with Zeke and shit."

"If they didn't break up, you would've probably still be single so it kinda worked out."

"I probably would've gotten a girlfriend!" Yolanda exclaims. "It's not that hard!"

"Right," Shaolin laughs. "We are both in love with our best friends and while you already got your wish, thanks to Zeke and Mylene breaking up, i'm still struggling to even admit i'm gay as hell, let alone admit that I love Zeke, so don't give me that."

Yolanda rolls her eyes, but she knows Shao is telling the truth. She would have never really loved that person as much as she loved Mylene and Regina. "Fine, whatever. I'll give you the credit for sabotaging Mylene's relationship with Zeke. They probably could've done that on their own but I'm glad you was there to exacerbate it."

"My pleasure," Shao says with sarcasm.

"You know, I never really understood you," Yolanda admits. "Like, really understood you. I only heard about you through word of mouth and mostly it was Mylene's mouth because Boo and Dizzee talked about you like you were god or some shit. Pretty sure they had crushes on you but don't tell them I said that."

Shao couldn't hold back a snort. "That sounds reassuring."

"I think what really got me saying 'oh no, this nigga ain't real' was when you called yourself the lady killing romantic and I was like...no, no man that wears a mesh shirt with that newsboy cap is a womanizer."

"So now you just gonna call me out," Shao replies, smiling nonetheless to tell Yolanda he's not offended.

"Hell yeah, nigga. Like, who really wears mesh shirts and calls themselves straight?"

Both of them start laughing, and it's the first time they ever felt comfortable with each other. Shao hasn't admitted some of the things out loud to anyone but Regina, and it's comforting as hell. "I gotta admit. Even though we had our differences, I still admired you, like lowkey. The way you care for your brothers and the way you four get along so well...that shit rarely happens. People nowadays hate their siblings and shit, but not y'all."

"Well, that's because we trust each other." Yolanda grins widely, making Shao grin as well. "And they trust you too so maybe I should trust you. You haven't done anything to hurt them, and my parents don't hate you so maybe I should learn to do that. Seriously though, my dad was hoping you were Dizzee's boyfriend."

Shao laughs. "I'm not surprised by that. Your dad? He kinda hates white people so to see Thor instead of some black guy...or basically anyone who isn't white was kinda disappointing to him. I like Thor though. They're pretty as hell."

"Yeah, they are." They sit in silence for a little while until the door opens.

Napoleon is hella confused at what he sees. "Um...what's going on?"

"Nothing Leon, go back to sleep," Shao replies.

Napoleon raises an eyebrow, and takes a little while to look between both Shao and Yolanda, and then a smile breaks out. "You two are friends now! Wait till Miles hears about this!"

Before Shao stops him, Napoleon goes back to his room. Shao rolls his eyes and as much as he wants to take the cellphone away from Napoleon, he just allows him to have it. "We're probably not gonna hear the end of it now."

"Yeah."


End file.
